Absorptive Capacity in a Public Research Company: from Maturity to Scalability

Absorptive capacity is a dynamic capability that may generate knowledge and innovations. In Brazil, the development of new products and processes have led to technological advances in farming, especially in the last decades. In this context, the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) has played an important role in the absorption and generation of agricultural knowledge and innovations from research and project development (R&D). Therefore, absorptive capacity (AC) is a construct involving knowledge absorption with procedural propositions that need empirical verification. In this study, we investigated how the maturity of absorptive capacity can be achieved in a public research company. We studied three R&D Embrapa projects that involved intraorganizational and interorganizational alliances that resulted in important innovations. We identified and systematized routines and organizational processes of acquisition, assimilation, transformation, and exploration of knowledge. This study contributed to the development of a propositional maturity model of absorptive capacity in a public research company that promotes scalability of routines and knowledge absorption processes at intraorganizational and interorganizational levels.